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The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region generates 19% of its electricity from wind and solar, exceeding the global average. While nearly half of the 33 LAC countries have pledged net-zero emissions by 2050, an implementation gap persists. The region possesses a third of global lithium, copper, and silver reserves, though investment has historically favored extraction over local manufacturing. Recent trends show a rise in electric vehicle sales and a shift in Venezuela toward solar generation to improve grid stability.

The IAI Directorate has advanced several strategic mandates between June 2025 and January 2026, including the expansion of its Associate network with the WMO and AGU, and the operationalization of the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee (IPAC). Key efforts focused on science diplomacy in preparation for UNFCCC COP30, the launch of transdisciplinary research programs on climate-health and ocean science, and the development of the IAI Science Diplomacy Center. The Directorate also expanded its educational reach through virtual courses on remote sensing and health adaptation, while pursuing new member state adhesion, specifically with El Salvador.

The author contends that democracy and autocracy are mutually obstructive and that the EU must leverage financial tools like the Global Gateway and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to build an alliance of democracies, particularly in the Global South, to prevent a global shift toward authoritarian dominance.

The report finds widespread concern about climate impacts across the political spectrum, with a strong public demand for government-led adaptation efforts. Respondents primarily link climate change to economic risks, such as the cost of living and job security, and view adaptation as a necessary complement to, rather than a replacement for, emissions reductions.

The Resilient Coasts – Caribbean Sea project, led by the Stockholm Environment Institute, uses 'living labs' in the Dominican Republic and Colombia to test nature-based solutions for coastal resilience. The project focuses on rehabilitating mangroves and coral reefs to reduce wave energy, prevent erosion, and support local economies through fishing and tourism, while developing sustainable financing models and community-led rehabilitation strategies.

The report identifies key pillars for integrating non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing the need for long-term state policies, proactive system planning, and updated regulatory frameworks. It highlights successful models in Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil, while contrasting these with challenges in Colombia, particularly regarding the lack of multi-party political consensus and coordination between generation and transmission planning.

The report documents a prolific trade in live primates on US social media, identifying over 1,600 animals for sale across 12 taxa. It highlights the use of euphemisms like 'adoption' to bypass platform filters, the risks of zoonotic disease transmission, and the ecological threat of invasive species in states like Florida. The authors argue that a patchwork of inconsistent state laws and a lack of federal oversight enable this trade, and they recommend the passage of the Captive Primate Safety Act and the Wildlife Confiscations Network Act to improve regulation and animal placement.

The document outlines a structured approach to move from human-tiger conflict to coexistence, utilizing the C2C (Conflict to Coexistence) methodology. It defines conflict and coexistence as dynamic spectrums influenced by risk, tolerance, and management effectiveness. The report details four key outcomes for monitoring—People, Livelihoods & Assets, Wildlife, and Habitat—and proposes a collaborative decision-making process using the nominal group technique to prioritize interventions. It summarizes 29 interventions, ranging from preventative measures like livestock enclosures and predator alert systems to response strategies like cognitive behavioral therapy, and evaluates their effectiveness based on robust evidence. Additionally, it presents nine monitoring tools and a theoretical framework for policy advocacy to support long-term sustainable management of tiger landscapes.

The 2026 Progress Report details WWF's conservation efforts in 2025, focusing on the recovery of African elephants, mountain gorillas, snow leopards, bison, and sharks and rays. Key achievements include a consumer awareness campaign against ivory in Viet Nam, the establishment of a transboundary conservation area for snow leopards in Asia, and the restoration of bison herds in North America. The report emphasizes the use of scientific research, such as population censuses and GPS telemetry, to guide habitat management and policy across multiple continents.

The report details a shift in U.S. federal priorities that has narrowed incentives for clean energy, primarily through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and executive agency actions. It highlights significant tax credit repeals or restrictions, DOE funding cancellations, and EPA reporting rollbacks that have created deep uncertainty across the electric power, manufacturing, and energy and industry sectors. While some investments accelerated to meet new deadlines, others—particularly in hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel, and carbon management—have declined or relocated abroad.

In 2025, solar and wind power expanded fast enough to outpace global electricity demand growth for the first time over a sustained period. Solar growth accelerated in Africa and Central Europe, while BRICS nations now generate over half of global solar power. The rise of 'electrotech'—led by China—and falling battery costs are enabling fossil-free baseload power and supporting the energy demands of AI and data centres.

In 2025, electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for over a quarter of global new car sales, driven by a significant shift in emerging markets. While legacy auto markets in the US and Canada have seen a rollback of incentives, countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America are 'leapfrogging' advanced economies. Viet Nam and Singapore have reached EV sales shares exceeding 40%, surpassing the UK and EU. China continues to dominate as the largest market, with its exports increasingly targeting non-OECD markets such as Brazil, Mexico, the UAE, and Indonesia. The report highlights that EVs significantly reduce fossil fuel demand, with battery electric vehicles in Brazil delivering an estimated 90% reduction compared to internal combustion engine vehicles.

As of October 2025, the all-in capex for large, long-duration utility-scale BESS projects outside China and the US is approximately $125/kWh, resulting in a Levelised Cost of Storage (LCOS) of $65/MWh. This cost reduction is driven by cheaper Chinese-manufactured equipment, longer battery lifetimes, and improved efficiencies. Consequently, dispatchable solar—storing 50% of daily generation—is estimated to cost $76/MWh, making it a highly competitive option for meeting global energy demand growth.

The document outlines the current state of global deforestation, noting that 8.1 million hectares were lost in 2024 and that the world is off track to meet the COP26 goal of halting and reversing deforestation by 2030. It identifies agriculture as the primary driver, accounting for 86% of global deforestation over the last decade, and highlights the critical role of old-growth forests in carbon storage. The guide also notes that climate-driven risks, particularly wildfires, have become leading causes of forest loss, with fire becoming the principal driver of tropical forest loss for the first time in 2024.

The COP30 summit in Belém concluded with the "Mutirão global" agreement, which maintained negotiations but postponed key decisions on fossil fuels and adaptation finance. While the summit saw record indigenous participation and significant funding commitments for tropical forests and energy infrastructure, it failed to establish a clear mechanism to limit warming to 1.5°C and lacked a process for reviewing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The document urges reporters to translate these diplomatic results into human-centric stories focusing on vulnerable communities and territorial rights.

The paper examines the 'care crisis' in Africa, where unpaid care work—primarily performed by women—is economically invisible and underfunded due to debt burdens and austerity. It proposes a shift toward 'feminist fiscal justice' by adopting progressive taxation, wealth taxes, and integrated care systems, drawing on successful models from Uruguay, Colombia, and Costa Rica.

The report analyzes the role of Global North private equity firms in maintaining fossil fuel assets across the Global South, highlighting a pattern of extracting profits while offloading environmental and social risks onto local communities. Using data from the 2024 Climate Risk Scorecard, it identifies 13 firms with assets in 32 Global South countries, with a significant concentration of risky assets in Latin America, particularly Mexico. The document details specific instances of pollution in India, social displacement in Brazil, and financial instability in the Philippines, while providing a comprehensive case study on Mexico's LNG and pipeline infrastructure. It concludes that the private equity model's lack of transparency and short-term focus exacerbate climate injustice and expose institutional investors, such as public pensions, to significant financial risk.

The report examines how activists and civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean use climate litigation to block fossil fuel expansion and promote policies aligned with the Paris Agreement. It highlights a predominantly rights-based approach, emphasizing the right to a healthy environment and the protection of Indigenous communities. The analysis identifies significant institutional barriers in the region, including high litigation costs, structural violence against environmental defenders, and a lack of specialized judicial training. While the region leads the Global South in climate litigation volume, it lags behind the Global North in lawsuits targeting private corporations directly. The document also warns of 'backlash' through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, where companies use international arbitration to challenge decarbonization policies.

The report examines Mexico's progress toward the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's '30x30' goal, focusing on the potential of OECMs to complement existing Protected Natural Areas (ANP). It identifies that while Mexico has a strong legal framework for social land ownership (ejidos and communities), inclusive conservation is hindered by state failure to enforce Indigenous rights, contradictory public policies, and budget cuts. The document details various conservation modalities, such as Wildlife Management Units (UMA) and Community Forest Management (MFC), and uses three case studies to highlight local motivations for conservation, primarily linked to water security and sustainable livelihoods. It concludes that for OECMs to be effective and inclusive, Mexico must establish transparent recognition processes, align agricultural subsidies with conservation incentives, and ensure the free, prior, and informed consent of local rights-holders.

The community of San Francisco Telixtlahuaca in Oaxaca, Mexico, maintains significant forest cover through a strong communal governance system and collaboration with municipal authorities. While the community no longer identifies as Indigenous and lacks formal protected area status, it is motivated to conserve forests to protect water and soil. Conservation is primarily funded by federal payments for environmental services (PSA), though the community faces challenges regarding technical documentation, urban expansion, and river pollution. While unaware of the OECM framework, community members expressed openness to it if it provides technical and financial support without imposing new restrictions.